Doubt....

I watched an interview on PBS about the Broadway play "Doubt" and the actors, playwright and interviewer were talking about how we are in an age of certainty- that is people are certain about what they know, think and believe. The playwright talked about how it use to be considered a sign of wisdom to be uncertain, to doubt, but in the current political/cultural/religious climate, it is very "unfashionable" to be someone who expresses doubt. I find this wonderfully curious, as someone who used to be certain about many things (and rather obnoxious about it, I am sure), who is now questions and doubts pretty much everthing. I was trying to explain to a friend and colleague my perspective on doubt last year. My friend believes we can know anything and everything, if we spend enough time seeking truth/knowledge and understand ourselves. I think that I will always have doubts, and I am more than fine with that, which was beyond his comprehension. I explained that I love living in a state of "not-knowing", that I am much calmer, happier, and less obnoxious to be around. This doesn't just apply to god/religion/etc, but also to my interaction with others. As a human, not to mention a therapist/social worker, it would be presumptious for me to assume I know someone else's reality better than they do. I do think there are things we can know, but being the post-modernist/feminist/universalist that I am, I think we really can only know things for ourselves- i.e. we cannot universalize our experiences, as they are subjective. When it comes to doubt, I see it like this: doubt should lead us to ask "the question", whatever it may be, and one question generally begets another, and another, and another.... what an adventure. So, neurotic as I may be, I love living in my little world of "not knowing" (guess that is why I am a good agnostic), and also kinda like that it drives other people kinda nuts.